


I Still Miss You

by eievuiisms



Category: Final Space (Cartoon)
Genre: (BASICALLY avocato's a ghost & stuck around to comfort his son & also gary), (kinda), Alternate Universe, Based on a Tumblr Post, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Comfort/Angst, Father-Son Relationship, M/M, One Shot Collection, ghost au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-29 00:35:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20073214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eievuiisms/pseuds/eievuiisms
Summary: A three-part story where Avocato is still around as a spirit & is able to communicate through Little Cato's device as seen in s2e4.Somewhat inspired by Garycatosuggestions post: https://garycatosuggestions.tumblr.com/post/186458607184/ghostavocato-things-all-of-his-emotions-r-like





	1. Chapter 1

He’d found the machine completely by accident. He had been tending to his new room, wiping away at the dusty surfaces, when he’d found the machine tucked away in a drawer. Curious, he’d picked it up and placed it on the desk’s surface, wiping the dust away with a paw. It looked like a normal keyboard, white letters neatly printed over pink and purple keys. With an intrigued raise of his brows, his eyes wandered to the power button located at the bottom and pressed it. A blue hologram of some random person popped up and stared at him, with a random blue bar along the bottom of them. The Ventrexian seemed to catch on quickly, and typed a few words to test his theory. The hologram repeated it back to him flawlessly. The machine he found was clearly one of those text-to-speech things. Not particularly useful to the average joe, but perfect if one needed to imitate another’s voice for, say, a voice-key. Or, maybe even...someone who was coping with a loss. 

Not too long after having that thought did Little Cato completely abandon cleaning up the rest of the grimy room to tamper with it, programming his dad’s image and voice into it. It didn’t take him nearly as long as he’d thought it would - this device might not have been too advanced by today's standards, but it got the job done - and only an hour and a half later, he was turning it back on and staring directly at his late father.

His paws rested gently on the keyboard, his heart thudding in his chest, hesitant to start typing. He knew he’d have to test to make sure the voice sample he uploaded worked. Soon, his fingers started typing without him hardly even thinking of it.

“ _ Hey son! _ ” He gave an exhale that almost sounded as if he’d been punched in the gut. He supposed he hadn’t expected it to sound so...excited. For the hologram to have such a large smile on its face. On  _ his _ face.

The teen felt a lump building in his throat but swallowed, eyes glancing towards the closed door just to make  _ sure _ it was closed, before looking back at the hologram and offering a weak smile. “Hey, dad.” He knew there was no point in responding - he was just talking to himself - but something about it felt...good. So he typed some more.

“ _ It’s been a while. How’ve you been? _ ”

“I’ve been...pretty good, I guess. On a new ship.”

“ _ I can see that. How’re you liking it? _ ”

“It’s alright. The new guys are a li’l strange, but they’re not terrible. Got a Tryvuulian on board, though.”

“ _ Ugh. Tryvuulians. Don’t let him push you around, got it? _ ”

He gave a small laugh. “I won’t.”

“ _ Good. Gary still with you? _ ”

“Yeah, he is. He’s, uh...he’s…” He trailed off, his muscles feeling tense for a second, his paws shaking as they rested at the bottom of the machine, his throat feeling tight again. He stared down at the keyboard, his vision getting misty. Eventually, a couple of tears fell down onto the keys, and he sniffed, a small, shaky sob escaping him. “I’m sorry,” he apologized to nobody, his voice sounding tiny. “I’m so sorry. I-” He pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his tail around them while he covered his eyes with his paws, his body trembling with each sob, tears soaking his palms and his cheeks. “I still miss you. I still really -  _ really _ \- miss you-” he managed to say between hiccups and sobs. God, why’d he do this to himself? He should’ve known he’d only upset himself by doing this. Now someone was going to walk in and see him a pathetic, snivelling mess, and-

“ _ I miss you, too. _ ”

His body froze, uncertain if he’d actually heard that or if it was his imagination. Did his ‘dad’ really just say that? Slowly, with some level of caution, the Ventrexian removed his hand from his now red eyes, his gaze meeting the hologram’s, its expression now seeming...sad. He looked at the blue bar where the words were typed, and surely enough, the words were there. But how? He hadn’t been typing anything…

His heart leapt when he heard the clacking of keys, looking down to see some sort of invisible force pressing them. “ _ I miss you so much, _ ” the hologram of his father spoke again.

Little Cato could only stare in disbelief. He was sure that this wasn’t real. That the grief was finally just starting to get to him and now that he’d successfully reopened a still healing wound, now he was hallucinating that his dad was somehow talking to him through this device. Still, he could help but quietly say, “...Dad…?”

The keys clacked again, and the hologram gave a small smile. “ _ Yeah. I’m here. _ ”

He could feel some hint of excitement begin rising in his chest, and he frowned, looking at the floor, squashing the feeling by bluntly stating, “No, you’re not. You’re dead.”

“ _ Well, yeah. I am. But I’m here. Just not physically. _ ”

_ What does that even mean? _ he wanted to ask, but refrained because he didn’t wish to know the answer. He already felt so much  _ guilt _ surrounding his dad’s death. He already blamed himself for it happening - that it never would’ve happened if Avocato hadn’t been so desperate to save him. The last thing he wanted was to somehow feel as if, by some slim chance, his father had stuck around because of him, too. “Ghosts aren’t real,” he eventually muttered through his teeth after a long moment of silence, fresh tears sliding down his chin. His ‘dad’ did not respond this time. The teen’s brows furrowed as he glared at the hologram in front of him, and said, “ _ You’re _ not real. You’re  _ dead _ .” His voice broke with the last word, a new wave of sobs threatening to leave him. “This is just- just some- some weird figment of my imagination. You’re not  _ actually _ here. You’re gone. You’re  _ gone. _ You’re-” He inhaled shakily, exhaling in a sob. “...Gone,” he whispered.

He shut his eyes and lowered his head, and the room fell so silent that all he could hear over his own sniffling was the light hum of the device. Eventually, his drooped ears raised, his eyes opening back up and looking at the hologram again. “Dad?” he asked. When there was no response, the weight of his rant felt heavy on his heart. He was convinced this was just some grief-stricken hallucination. He figured it probably wasn’t healthy for him to be having one. It was probably even less healthy for him to actually still kind of... _ want _ it. But still, he found himself leaning close to the hologram and saying, “Dad, wait - come back, I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-”

“ _ Don’t apologize. _ ” Little Cato exhaled a small sigh of relief at hearing the voice again. “ _ You didn’t do anything wrong. _ ”

“I just- I’m so confused.”

“ _ I know. That’s on me. I probably shouldn’t have just started talking to you like this. _ ” The teen frowned. He felt kind of bad, feeling as if though his reaction is what made his… _ dad _ feel bad for talking to him. “ _ Maybe you should take a break for a bit. Come back with a clear head. _ ”

With his theory that he was just imagining things, that almost seemed like his own subconscious was trying to snap him out of it. “I don’t want to,” he murmured, partly in response to his father and partly in response to his own thoughts. “I don’t want you to leave.”

“ _ I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right here. _ ”

The Ventrexian stared at Avocato’s image, which now gave a small smile towards him. After a few moments, he raised a paw and pressed the power button, shutting the device off. “Later, dad,” he said quietly.

There was no clacking of the keys in response.

However, he did notice the air felt oddly cold.


	2. Chapter 2

“ _ You’re such a screw-up _ ,” the hologram muttered, the Ventrexian staring at its harsh glare and bared teeth with a tired look in his eyes.

“I know,” he said quietly in response.

Nothing  _ bad _ had necessarily happened that day. Nothing other than the fact that this officially marked the 60th year he’d crashed the Crimson Light into a time shard and trapped them all in there. No one else had seemed to notice - or, if they did, they weren’t saying anything. No - they must not have noticed, because if they did, they’d be telling him the exact same thing he was telling himself right now.

“ _ 60 years, and you still haven’t found a way out, _ ” his ‘dad’ berated, though it was him who was typing on the keys.

“I’m trying.”

“ _ Not hard enough. _ ”

“I know,” he said even more quieter than before, not noticing the air drop a few degrees.

“ _ I’m ashamed to call you my stop that. _ ”

Little Cato’s brows furrowed for a moment as he stared at the hologram, knowing that he was about to type something different. He soon caught on, though, and removed his gloved paws from the keyboard. The keys started pushing themselves down, and he watched them apathetically.

“ _ You know I’d never say any of that. _ ” He didn’t say anything. He didn’t even look up. “ _ Stop treating yourself so harshly. You’ll get out of this. _ ” Still no response. “ _ Would you please just talk to me? _ ”

“How many times do I have to tell you to get lost,” he replied, his voice monotone. “It’s been 60 years. You’d think you’d get bored eventually.”

“ _ You’re my son. You can try to push me away all you like, but I’m not leaving any time soon. _ ”

“You’re not real,” he murmured, leaning back in his chair, still avoiding looking at the teal-and-white Ventrexian that appeared on the hologram. “You’re not really here.”

“ _ I’m not here to vex you. I’m here to support you. _ ”

“Why?” he asked sharply, finally looking at him. “Why would you want to support someone who’s done nothing but  _ fail _ for the last 6 decades, huh?”

“ _ Because I love you. And I believe in you, _ ” the hologram said, a gentle expression on its features.

His own expression softened for a moment. He’d be lying if he said there wasn’t a part of him that dearly appreciated hearing those words, especially in a depressing time like now. But his expression hardened again. “You say you’d never say those awful things to me, and I get that. But I know that you wouldn’t have said those things, either.” Silence filled the air, and after a few moments, he reached for the power button, assuming that...that  _ hallucination _ had finally decided to go back to being dormant. However, right as he was about to press it, the keys started clacking again.

“ _ I wish I’d said them more, Little Cato. I really d- _ ”

He pressed the power button, shutting it off. The keys stopped abruptly when he did so. He let out a slightly shaky breath, running a paw through his hair and leaning an elbow on the desk. His ear twitched when he heard the keys typing.

‘I’m sorry.’

“...” He wordlessly decided to put the device back in its cubby and head to his bed, noticing that the room now felt warmer.

\--

When he’d gotten to his room after being rescued, the first thing he did was sit down at his desk and pull the keyboard out. He turned it on but didn’t touch the keys, instead resting his paws neatly in his lap. “...Hey, dad? You there?” He held his breath, awaiting a response, and didn’t exhale until he felt that cold shiver go down his spine, followed by that usual sound of typing.

“ _ Always am. _ ”

“Good,” the teen replied with a smile, though it faded. “I, um...I wanted to say sorry for...some of the things I said. It wasn’t really fair.”

“ _ It’s okay. I’m not upset. _ ”

“Th-that’s good. ‘Cause I, uh...I still think you’re a really good dad. And I know you loved me. I-” his voice broke for a moment, and he could already feel his eyes begin to feel wet. He continued anyway, “I wouldn’t be alive, a-and you wouldn’t be dead if you didn’t. I know that.” He gave a small smile, and said, “And you wouldn’t have stuck around for all those years if you didn’t too, I guess.”

“ _ Yeah. Exactly. _ ” A pause - mostly so that his next statement could be typed out. “ _ I meant what I said. I am proud of you. _ ”

“...I know. Thanks, dad.”

“ _ No problem, son. _ ”

“...Dad? Is- is it okay if I...put this away for a while? I think I just need a break. To clear my head.”

“ _ Of course. I’ll still be around. _ ”

He gave another small smile. “Thanks, dad.” With that, he shut off the device, and put it away.


	3. Chapter 3

“Hey, Little Cato, y- oh,” the blond said, realizing the Ventrexian wasn’t in his room. He guessed that the teen was maybe on a different part of the ship. “Probably hanging with Ash,” he said lightheartedly to himself. Those two had seemed to be getting close - not surprising considering they were around the same age. It was probably nice for the both of them to finally have another teen around to hang with. He was about to leave when he did a double-take, noticing...something in the cubby of the desk. “Wait,” he murmured, “What is that?” He took a few steps towards the desk, then hesitated. He knew he probably shouldn’t be in there, going through Little Cato’s things. If he got caught in there, there was no doubt the teen would be mad at him. “... _ Juuust _ one peek to see what it is, then I’ll leave,” he reasoned with himself, continuing his route towards the desk.

He sat himself down in the chair and pulled it out, finding the power button and turning it on, and- “Oh,  _ wow _ , oookay. Alright.” He hadn’t been expecting to see the face of his unfortunately deceased friend pop up, and he immediately felt uncomfortable. “ _ Deeefinitely _ intruding on some personal stuff here,” he muttered to himself, moving to press the power button to put it away. He paused, his metal finger hovering over the button, and glanced over his shoulder at the still-open door. “...Just one thing,” he said, then proceeded to type something into that bar.

“ _ Buttcheeks. _ ”

The man couldn’t help but crack up like a child, then proceeded to sigh and say, “That’s...not as funny as I thought it’d be. This is actually kinda sa- okay,  _ now _ putting it away, and- good lord, why is it so cold in this room?” he asked to no one. “Is there just  _ no _ heat in this room or something? I mean-”

“ _ Hey there, Gary. _ ”

He gave a startled cry, pushing the chair away from the desk so fast he nearly tipped it over. Gary stared at the hologram of Avocato, which had a half-lidded, amused expression, with a look of pure confusion. He hadn’t typed anything - he  _ did _ have to type something for it to start talking, right? That’s what he was guessing anyway. He didn’t really know, and he sure wasn’t about to go and ask Little Cato how it-

“ _ It’s been a while. _ ”

He remained frozen in his position, looking like he was trying to squeeze as much of himself into the small chair as he could just to keep his distance from the device, until his limbs ached. He slowly went back to a normal sitting position, leaning forward but not bringing the chair closer to the desk. “...Avocato?” he asked quietly. “Is that- no. No, it can’t be really you. You- you’re-” God, he couldn’t say it. He didn’t want to say it. “...you know _ . _ ” He finally heard the clacking of the keys, having not been too busy talking or being scared shitless to notice, eyes looking down at surprise as they seemed to just be going on their own.

“ _ I know _ ,” the hologram said. “ _ But it really is me. Honest. _ ”

The man looked over Avocato’s image with a look of wariness. “...Prove it. What was the last thing you told me?”

The keys clacked way faster than they had the previous times, and eventually the hologram above the device said, “ _ Take care of my boy. _ ”

“...Wow,” Gary said, finally wheeling himself forward so that he could rest his arms on the desk in front of the machine. “It- it is you.”

“ _ Told you. _ ”

“But I mean- how? This - this should be impossible, right? I mean hey, I was always open to the idea of ghosts, but that was only because I didn’t think I’d ever actually encounter one.”

“ _ Well, _ ” the Ventrexian said with a small sigh, “ _ I would’ve thought it impossible myself, but apparently not. _ ”

“Apparently,” he said with a small laugh. It wasn’t all that jovial - there was some hint of sadness in it - but it was the type that one gave when they hadn’t seen a good friend in quite a while. “So, um...I’m guessing you’re still around because of your son, huh?” There was no sound in the room for a few moments, which surprised Gary. He expected the answer to be a quick and hard ‘yes’, but judging by the pause, that might not have been the case. Unless Avocato was having some kind of difficulty? Surely it was hard to keep typing when he wasn’t tangible, right? It was still cold, so he was still there - Gary knew that much for sure. “It’s okay,” he eventually said, “Take your time.”

“ _ Not...just him _ ,” he eventually said. Gary didn’t fail to notice the pause in typing between the first two words. “ _ I wanted to stick around for you guys, too, if I’m honest. _ ”

“Aw,” he replied before he could stop himself. “Thanks for that.”

“ _ Don’t mention it. _ ” There was a hesitance, and the man was about to say something when he heard the keys going again. They stopped, as if Avocato - Avocato’s ghost? No, just Avocato - noticed he was going to say something.

“You first.”

“ _ I’m sorry about Quinn. _ ”

Oof. That stung. A lot. He tried to hide it for the most part - put up a front for the sake of himself and those around him - but the whole incident with the breach still hurt more than he’d ever admit. He frowned, glancing away and leaning back in the chair, lightly tapping a finger against his leg. “Don’t worry about it. It...is what it is.”

“ _ You’ll get her back. I know you will. _ ”

He looked back at him and gave a smile. “...Thanks, Avocato.”

“ _ What were you going to say? _ ”

“Huh? Oh yeah-” He leaned forward again. “Does Little Cato know about you?”

“ _ He does. We’ve been talking for a while, now. _ ”

“Oh! Well, that’s good. For both of you, I mean.”

“ _ He still isn’t entirely sure I’m real. I can tell. _ ”

“Oh. Well, that’s...not as good. But if he’s still willing to talk, then it must be overall decent.” 

“ _ It is. I don’t blame him. I’m not really bothered by it, either. _ ”

The blond nodded with a hum. After a moment, though, he frowned, brows furrowed.

“ _ Got something on your mind? _ ”

“...Um...yeah, actually.” He hesitated, though. He didn’t want to ask because he felt like he already knew the answer - and if this really was Avocato, talking with an Avocato text-to-speech program, he wasn’t sure if having his suspicions confirmed by Little Cato’s father himself was the best idea given all the other bad stuff that’d happened. But he knew he had to ask - he may never get that chance again. “You said to...take care of your son. And I’ve been trying - like,  _ really _ trying - to do that for you. And I don’t know...how much you’ve seen, but-”

“ _ Gary, _ ” he interrupted, making the blond look at the Ventrexian, whose features had an oddly gentle smile. “ _ You’re doing just fine, baby. _ ”

The words practically knocked the wind out of him. Or maybe he’d just been holding his breath anticipating the answer. Either way, he exhaled deeply, wide eyes looking at Avocato almost in disbelief. “I...I am? B-But what about that time he almost got killed because I-”

“ _ Let me stop you right there. _ ” The man shut his mouth. “ _ Accidents happen. Mistakes are made. But I am personally telling you from beyond the grave that you’re doing okay. I made a good choice asking you to take care of him. _ ”

“Good’s a strong word,” Gary joked, trying to ignore the fact that he was tearing up. God, he didn’t realize he’d get so emotional over being validated like this. “But...thanks. Seriously, it- it means a lot. I mean, after everything that’s happened...it’s good to know I’m doing  _ something _ right for a change.”

“ _ Yeah. I get that. _ ”

“...I...I really wish I could keep talking, but I think if your son catches me in his room, he’s going to be a  _ little _ unhappy.” Pause. “No pun intended.”

“ _ It’s cool, baby. You do you. But before you go, I just wanna say...you got this. Okay? _ ”

He blinked, surprised by the praise. “...I really can’t thank you enough.”

“ _ Don’t mention it, Gary. I’m here for you, too. _ ”

The blond gave one last smile before shutting off the device, watching the Ventrexian’s image flicker away. He placed it back in the cubby that he found it in, pushed the chair back into the desk, then quietly slipped out of the room. After shutting the door, he heaved a sigh, wiping the light tears stains away with his sleeve before promptly heading away from Little Cato’s room before he got caught.

Speak of the devil - the teen was turned the corner right as he was. “Oh - Gary! What’s up?”

He couldn’t help but crack a playful smile at the little guy. “Not much, spider cat. Not much.”


End file.
